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Briana Ayala had a huge tumor wrapped around her aorta and spine and most doctors wouldn't take her case. Dr. Stephen Megison of the UT Southwestern Medical Center accepted her case and successfully removed the tumor.

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Briana Ayala, 13, and her family were told by several doctors that her cancer was untreatable, but they persisted. A surgeon in Dallas decided to take her case and saved her life.(Photo: MARK LAMBIE/EL PASO TIMES)Buy Photo

But then came that terrible word, that horrible word that strikes fear into families: cancer.

"It hurt and I was really feeling bad," she said softly. "They said the big tumor was wrapped around my aorta and my spine. We couldn't find anyone to operate."

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Luis Ayala talks about his daughter Briana’s struggle with a severe case of cancer. Luis said he never worried because he knew Jehovah would take care of her. (Photo: MARK LAMBIE/EL PASO TIMES)

The calls from El Paso went out across the country, to St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, to Boston, to Houston, to San Antonio, to Dallas ... to anywhere and everywhere.

"Finally, Dallas called back and said they could do it, that they were ready," she said.

Was she afraid?

The little girl, the girl so many doctors said would not make it, the girl doctors now call a miracle, smiled and said softly: "I wasn't scared because God was with me. Besides, I knew I would never give up. I would always keep up the fight, keep my hope and faith."

The little girl, wise beyond her years, calmly explained: "It was really three surgeries in one. He had to take out the tumor. He had to cut my aorta vein in half. Then he had to reconstruct the aorta."

Briana Ayala at a checkup appointment with Dr. Ted Laetsch and nurse practitioner Tara Pavlock after participating for two years in a clinical trial that has been successful in returning her to good health.(Photo: Courtesy of Juan Pulido/UT Southwestern Medical Center)

That surgery gave her a chance. But it did not cure her.

There were still five little tumors and, after the rigors and pain of chemotherapy, it was found that the tumors had grown. And she was still in pain.

The physical and mental strain on a patient is immeasurable, impossible for anyone else to truly understand. But there is a special strain on family, too.

Luis Ayala, Briana's father and an El Paso taxi driver, said he simply went walking after the surgery.

"From the beginning, when we learned of this, it was just very horrible for us," he said. "So many doctors along the way said there was no hope. They said she wouldn't make it. They said our little girl would die. They tell us three times ... four times. I know they were just doing their job. But I didn't want to hear it.

"I was just so very sad after the surgery," he said. "I went walking. I went down the stairs, walking around the hospital, around some big building."

His voice grew softer as he said, "I was just so sad, so very sad, so very, very sad."

Maria, Briana's mother, said: "It was such terrible news. I thought it was a nightmare. I couldn't believe what was happening to my little girl. I had a lot of fear, but I also prayed and had confidence in Jehovah.

"It seemed so bad, but we had hope," she said. "We always had hope. I felt there had to be a treatment. Surely, the doctors would find a treatment."

Megison, who performed the surgery, told Briana she was "a miracle."

The little girl returned home on March 13. And then came a call from Dallas, a call that would change her life forever ... a call cradled in faith, hope and love.

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Briana Ayala, 13, shows a photo of how she looked during her cancer treatment.(Photo: MARK LAMBIE/EL PASO TIMES)

"They said there was a study that I qualified for," the 13-year-old said. "I took a pill twice a day. No more pain. And the tumors have gone away."

Laetsch, who also leads the Experimental Therapeutics Program at Children's Health in Dallas, said: "When Briana first came she was very sick, a large tumor growing and surrounding her aorta. There was a lot of fear, people thinking she would die.

"That Dr. Megison could even attempt this surgery was very heroic," Laetsch said. "She had a rough time after the surgery. Fluid built up and it had grown into her spine and she was quite sick. But there was a mutation in the tumor."

Laetsch explained in a paper for UT Southwestern that a drug called larotrectinib had the capacity to work on patients with a specific fusion of two genes in the cancer cell — no matter what type of cancer.

"What is unique about the drug is it is very selective; it only blocks TRK receptors," Laetsch wrote.

“Briana is fine. She is perfectly normal. The blood vessels to her leg will make it harder for her to run long distances than most.”

Later, Laetsch said: "Briana is fine. She is perfectly normal. The blood vessels to her leg will make it harder for her to run long distances than most. But she can do anything. We have used the drug on 17 patients and all of them have had tumors shrink. It's really unprecedented for this type of therapy."

Laetsch said he does not know how long she will have to take the pills. She and her family go to Dallas every month for a checkup, just pack up and make what is now almost a joyous drive. She has a more extensive test every three months.

But life is normal and beautiful again. The pain is gone, the fear is gone. The faith, the hope, the love are still there.

Briana is very close to her 18-year-old brother Ramon and it was difficult for him to watch his little sister suffer. He flew to Dallas to be there when she had the surgery.

"So shocking," the student at El Paso Community College said. "I did not see this coming. I couldn't believe when I heard the news. I was just so worried all the time. I tried to help, do my part, to pray and hope for the best. This was such a hard experience — the hardest I have ever gone through."

Elvira Rivera, Briana's grandmother, had tears trickling down her cheeks as she remembered it all.

"We were all so scared," Rivera said. "It was terrible. But Dr. (Roberto) Canales helped so much here in El Paso,

Luis Ayala said: "Yes, he was so good. He helped us find a way. He kept saying we have to try, we have to try."

Rivera, tears still coming, said: "Dr. Canales said she is a strong girl, that she was stronger than anything and that they were going to save her. Now he tells Briana she's a miracle. And she is. Just look at her."

Briana Ayala looks like any beautiful 13-year-old girl, an eighth-grader ready to spring into high school, to fly out into the world. She loves to draw and she wants to be a fashion designer someday. She loves to play with her little black poodle, Goofy.

She loves life.

Faith, hope and love float through the home, through the very being of this little miracle.

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El Paso Firefighter Raul Montoya nears the finish line of the Our Colors Run Together 5k Sunday at Cohen Stadium. The run unites all El Pasoans fighting cancer and raises funds for the Rio Grande Cancer Foundation. MARK LAMBIE / EL PASO TIMES

Hundreds of El Pasoans participated in the 2nd Annual Our Colors Run Together 5k Sunday at Cohen Stadium. The event supports the fight against all types of cancer through the Rio Grande Cancer Foundation. MARK LAMBIE / EL PASO TIMES

Hundreds of El Pasoans participated in the 2nd Annual Our Colors Run Together 5k Sunday at Cohen Stadium. The event supports the fight against all types of cancer through the Rio Grande Cancer Foundation. MARK LAMBIE / EL PASO TIMES

Competitors in the Our Colors Run Together 5K take off Sunday morning from the starting line outside Cohen Stadium. The second annual race supports patients fighting all types of cancer and is hosted by the Rio Grande Cancer Foundation. MARK LAMBIE/EL PASO TIMES

Hundreds of El Pasoans participated in the 2nd Annual Our Colors Run Together 5k Sunday at Cohen Stadium. The event supports the fight against all types of cancer through the Rio Grande Cancer Foundation. MARK LAMBIE / EL PASO TIMES

Hundreds of El Pasoans participated in the 2nd Annual Our Colors Run Together 5k Sunday at Cohen Stadium. The event supports the fight against all types of cancer through the Rio Grande Cancer Foundation. MARK LAMBIE / EL PASO TIMES

Hundreds of El Pasoans participated in the 2nd Annual Our Colors Run Together 5k Sunday at Cohen Stadium. The event supports the fight against all types of cancer through the Rio Grande Cancer Foundation. MARK LAMBIE / EL PASO TIMES